A Glove
by Qelinor
Summary: Even the peaceful life in Silver Millennium had its downsides - just too much short-skirted temptations for the Earthen Guardians. And Zoisite is a guy here! so you are warned...


A Glove  
  
The disc of the Earth occupied half of Lunar sky and poured bluish light upon flowerbeds, palaces, banisters of the capital. Most generously it shone on a silver-haired person in a white cape.  
Kunzite, a Guardian of Prince Endimion, propped up a pillar at the entrance to the Earthen Embassy, and the thoughts of Zoisite hurt. But it seemed that soon only those thoughts would stay with him.  
And what have you wanted? the logical part of his mind popped up in indignation at the fact that it was shut off. To please eternally his vanity with the unconditional adoration of a boy torn away from family to the state service? Oh sure, at the beginning it was a natural choice. The boy viewed Kunzite as a parent substitute and showered his admiration onto the eldest, the wisest, the strongest one. Kun felt himself needed at last (in the hopelessly peaceful Silver Millennium Guardians had only two duties: decoration and transportation of tipsy royalties to a palace). Nephrite in his snotgreen years was also tagging after the Ice Lord, but when he started attending social events he transferred all his affection to the slender forms of girls and bottles. Jadeite... who knows? Maybe he also hadn't avoided idolatry but he never shared his feelings, unlike open, impulsive Zoi.  
It's a side-effect of adolescence, Kun cut his thoughts short. The need for family ties would pass with time. A kid can plop on the lap of an elder comrade, can hug him in an emotional outburst, can crawl to another's bed seeking refuge from nightmares. A teenager should start showing interest in girls. Especially such girls as senshi. Especially in SUCH skirts. Maybe those pieces of drapery concealed anything if you look at them from above. But when the senshi stand somewhere atop a staircase and saluted the Earthen delegation, the Shitennou bowed and cast glances to floor not in reverence, by far. Well, Neph tended to hold his gaze.  
Besides, as the Guardians followed Endymion everywhere by definition, so the four senshi would never leave Lunar Princess Serenity alone. Both groups spent almost all the time together because their leaders because their leaders were drowning in a bottomless puddle of love. No wonder, though. Through the decollete of the princess' night gown, called an evening gown by mistake, one could see even her knees, and Endy could not tear his eyes (and hands) off such abundance. The escorts got paired too, in order not to get underfoot to each other. Zoisite's counterpart was Mercury, a rare combination of intelligence and beauty, as Kunzite thought.  
The First Guardian was also falling sometimes to the charms of his partner Venus. But only till (very short 'till') she kept silent. Then her... intellect, to put it flatteringly, would spoil the general impression. Airbubbles left no place for brain, probably.  
And Mercury was altogether another case.  
The nightmare turned true at a ball on the day leading to the described evening, when Zoi, as a matter of fact, steered his partner to the exit and got lost.  
At first Kunzite felt an urge to find and spank. No matter whom or for what. But it wasn't Kunzitely to act on the first impulse.  
Here he was now, standing at the bottom of the stairs of the Earth Guardians' chambers and waiting. He could not explain even to himself what he was waiting for - he had already come to a conclusion that it's a natural course of things. But his material form would just stick to the banisters, his glance fixed at the entrance door.  
Jadeite had returned earlier. Even Nephrite had managed to find the door at the fifth attempt and climbed to his room, smirking at his comrade by the way upstairs.  
Shouldn't have stood here all the night, Kunzite thought when the blue light of Earth gave place to yellow sunshine. Will he come to the morning briefing?  
Zoi came in time and wheezed through all the meeting shamelessly, leaning at the shoulder of the First Guardian. And how should you interrogate a person while you can hardly fake interest to the speeches of your Prince; or marching at the ordained three-pace distance from him; or standing at attention on a platform during a parade?? Kunzite could just watch him attentively, and that allowed him to notice a strange thing. Zoisite tried to keep in shadow or hide his left hand behind him. The silver-haired man frowned when he realized the reason. Against all service regulations the boy had just one glove on. Due to the pale skin it was not very obvious and probably nobody except the older Guardian saw it. So, Kun waited eagerly for the end of the work day to demand explanations, and only that enthusiasm kept him from inevitable falling asleep on duty.  
And he had no wish to guess what thoughts kept Zoisite awake. Some thoughts there had to be, because after an umpteenth round at another ball the copper-haired Guardian (miraculously with both gloves on) slinked to the Prince, whispered something to him, and disappeared after an assuring nod. One should mention that Mercury went through the same routine with the Princess.  
Deja vu, Kun smirked bitterly, standing at the same staircase, at the same hour second time. But his sneer faded at once as he realized that he would not bear the second night in row. What an irony, the strongest warrior of Earth spends night out in the street.  
His fears proved false, though. Soon after midnight the object of surveillance appeared. He climbed the stairs, eyes downcast, until he crashed into Kunzite. The latter expected surprise, defensiveness, excuses, but definitely not that his colleague, eyes still downcast, would veer him and continue his passage. The glacier of patience cracked. Kunzite snapped to his back, to the limply hanging ponytail:  
"How did the date go? Scored?"  
Damn, he had promised to himself to keep calm!  
The emerald-green eyes snapped open in surprise.  
"W..wha?.."  
"Wha... You should propose first, and only then visit a lady at night. Otherwise a diplomatic conflict may occur".;  
"Shoot! I'm tired like hell, and next you -"  
"So, I'm just NEXT?" the desired lethal calm descended on Kun, and Zoisite hurried to finish the phrase:  
"and next you make me laugh my head off! Put on your thinking-cap - what proposal?!? She sees nothin' beyond her book! And I..." Zoisite came down one step with the First Guardian, and not a trace of laughter or sleepiness could be discerned in his dark-green eyes. "How many times should I repeat that word for you to believe me? I love you, Kunzaito-sama".;  
Kunzite was overwhelmed, drowned in the intense feeling in that gaze. He believed every word, and the next question escaped him merely by inertia: "Still... What have you been doing for two nights in row?"  
"Ah, this... I asked her to design thermal protection weaving for my gloves. I'm fed up with catching cold at every training with ice crystals. Gotcha?"  
"Not quite. Why Mercury? Jadeite is no fool in physics too".;  
"Well, I thought you might get jealous... Wow, if you let me, may I ask him to teach me making phantoms?"  
Kunzite laughed and caught Zoi's hands, peeled the notorious gloves off, kissed palms as if he wanted to warm them with his breath instead of dispassionate fabric... 


End file.
